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July 3

July 3

July 3 is the 184th day of the year (185th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 181 days remaining.

Events

- 324 - Battle of Adrianople Constantine I defeats Licinius, who flees to Byzantium
- 533 - Battle of Ad Decimum: Byzantine general Belisarius defeats the Vandals near Carthage.
- 987 - Hugh Capet was crowned King of France, the first of the Capetian dynasty which ruled France till the French Revolution in 1792.
- 1250 - Louis IX of France is captured by Baibars' Mamluk army at the Battle of Fariskur while he is in Egypt conducting the Seventh Crusade; he later has to ransom himself.
- 1608 - Quebec City founded by Samuel de Champlain.
- 1754 - George Washington surrenders Fort Necessity to French forces during the French and Indian War.
- 1775 - George Washington takes command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts.
- 1778 - British forces massacre 360 men, women & children in Wyoming, Pa, and Prussia declares war on Austria.
- 1819 - The first savings bank in the United States (The Bank of Savings in New York City) opens.
- 1839 - The first state normal school in the United States opens in Lexington, Massachusetts with 3 students.
- 1844 - The last pair of Great Auks is killed.
- 1848 - Slaves are freed in the Danish West Indies (now U.S. Virgin Islands).
- 1852 - Congress establishes the United States's 2nd mint in San Francisco, California.
- 1863 - U.S. Civil War: The final and bloodiest day of the Battle of Gettysburg.
- 1866 - Austro-Prussian War decided at Battle of Königgratz, resulting in Prussia taking over as the prominent German nation from Austria.
- 1884 - Dow Jones published its 1st stock average.
- 1886 - The New York Tribune becomes the first newspaper to use a linotype machine, eliminating typesetting by hand.
- 1890 - Idaho is admitted as the 43rd U.S. state.
- 1928 - First color television broadcast in London.
- 1932 - First Sunday game at Fenway Park, the New York Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox 13-2, and John McGraw retires from baseball.
- 1938 - World record for a steam railway locomotive is set in England, by the "Mallard", which reaches a speed of 203 km/h (126 mph).
- 1952 - Puerto Rico's Constitution is approved by the Congress of the United States.
- 1962 - The Algerian War of Independence against the French ends
- 1964 - President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits segregation in public places.
- 1969 - Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones drowns in his swimming pool. The band plays a concert at Hyde Park, London two days later in his honor.
- 1970 - A British Dan-Air De Havilland Comet chartered jetliner crashes into mountains north of Barcelona, Spain killing 112 people.
- 1971 - Singer Jim Morrison of The Doors is found dead of a heart attack in his bathtub.
- 1976 - Israeli commandos rescue 105 hostages at Entebbe Airport, Uganda during Operation Yonatan.
- 1977 - The Senegalese Republican Movement (MRS) is founded.
- 1979 - US President Jimmy Carter signs the first directive for secret aid to the opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul.
- 1988 - United States Navy warship USS Vincennes shoots down Iran Air Flight 655 over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard.
- 1993 - Prince Alois of Liechtenstein weds Duchess Sophie of Bavaria.
- 1993 - Steffi Graf wins Wimbledon.
- 1994 - Pete Sampras beats Goran Ivanisevic to win Wimbledon;
- 1994 - Romania eliminates Argentina 3-2 in the World Cup.
- 2001 - A Vladivostokavia Tupolev TU-154 jetliner crashes on approach to landing at Irkutsk, Russia killing 145 people.
- 2004 - Official opening of Bangkok's subway system.
- 2005 - Part of Australia's Twelve Apostles rock formation collapses. The national law legalizing same-sex marriage takes effect in Spain.

Births

- 1423 - King Louis XI of France (d. 1483)
- 1442 - Emperor Go-Tsuchimikado of Japan (d. 1500)
- 1511 - Giorgio Vasari, Italian painter and architect (d. 1574)
- 1530 - Claude Fauchet, French historian (d. 1601)
- 1567 - Samuel de Champlain, French explorer (d. 1635)
- 1676 - Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau, Prussian field marshal (d. 1747)
- 1683 - Edward Young, English poet (d. 1765)
- 1685 - Sir Robert Rich, 4th Baronet, British cavalry officer (d. 1768)
- 1728 - Robert Adam, Scottish architect (d. 1792)
- 1731 - Samuel Huntington, Continental Congress president and signer of the U.S. Declaration of Independence (d. 1796
- 1738 - John Singleton Copley, American painter (d. 1815)
- 1793 - John Clare, British poet (d. 1864)
- 1854 - Leos Janacek, Czech composer (d. 1928)
- 1870 - Richard Bedford Bennett, eleventh Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1947)
- 1875 - Ferdinand Sauerbruch, German surgeon (d. 1951)
- 1879 - Alfred Korzybski, Polish linguist
- 1883 - Franz Kafka, Austrian writer (d. 1924)
- 1893 - Mississippi John Hurt, American musician (d. 1966)
- 1906 - George Sanders, Russian-born actor (d. 1972)
- 1908 - M. F. K. Fisher, American writer (d. 1992)
- 1913 - Dorothy Kilgallen, American columnist and television personality (d. 1965)
- 1921 - Susan Peters, American actress
- 1927 - Ken Russell, British director
- 1930 - Carlos Kleiber, Austrian conductor (d. 2004)
- 1935 - Harrison Schmitt, astronaut
- 1937 - Tom Stoppard, Czech-born playwright
- 1940 - César Tovar, Venezuelan Major League Baseball player (d. 1994)
- 1946 - Leszek Miller, Prime Minister of Poland
- 1947 - Dave Barry, American writer
- 1947 - Betty Buckley, American actress
- 1949 - Jan Smithers, American actress
- 1950 - James Hahn, American politician
- 1951 - Richard Hadlee, New Zealand cricketer
- 1952 - Alan Autry, American football player, actor, and politician
- 1955 - Sanma Akashiya, Japanese television performer and actor
- 1957 - Laura Branigan, American singer (d. 2004)
- 1959 - Julie Burchill, British journalist and author
- 1960 - Tim Smith, English singer (Cardiacs)
- 1962 - Tom Cruise, American actor
- 1964 - Joanne Harris, British author
- 1964 - Yeardley Smith, American actress
- 1966 - Moises Alou, baseball player
- 1969 - Kevin Hearn, Canadian keyboardist (Barenaked Ladies)
- 1970 - Teemu Selänne, Finnish hockey player
- 1970 - Shawnee Smith, American actress
- 1973 - Johnny Terris, Canadian-born actor and director
- 1976 - Andrea Barber, American actress
- 1980 - Roland Mark Schoeman, South African swimmer

Deaths

- 683 - St. Leo II, pope
- 1570 - Aonio Paleario, Italian humanist
- 1642 - Maria de' Medici, queen of Henry IV of France (b. 1573)
- 1672 - Francis Willughby, English biologist (b. 1635)
- 1704 - Sophia Alekseyevna, regent of Russia (b. 1657)
- 1749 - William Jones, Welsh mathematician (b. 1675)
- 1795 - Louis-Georges de Bréquigny, French historian (b. 1714)
- 1795 - Antonio de Ulloa, Spanish general and governor of Louisiana (b. 1716)
- 1863 - George Hull Ward, American general (b. 1826)
- 1904 - Theodor Herzl, Austrian Zionist (b. 1860)
- 1914 - Joseph Chamberlain, British politician (b. 1836)
- 1918 - Sultan Mehmed V of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1844)
- 1933 - Hipólito Yrigoyen, President of Argentina (b. 1852)
- 1935 - André Citroën, French automobile pioneer (b. 1878)
- 1969 - Brian Jones, English musician (The Rolling Stones) (drowned) (b. 1942)
- 1971 - Jim Morrison, American singer (The Doors) (b. 1943)
- 1977 - Alexander M. Volkov, Russian novelist and mathematician (b. 1891)
- 1979 - Louis Durey, French composer (b. 1888)
- 1986 - Rudy Vallee, American singer (b. 1901)
- 1989 - Jim Backus, American actor (b. 1913)
- 1993 - Joe DeRita, American actor and comedian (b. 1909)
- 1995 - Pancho Gonzales, American tennis player (b. 1928)
- 1998 - Danielle Bunten Berry, American software developer (b. 1949)
- 2000 - Kemal Sunal, Turkish actor (b. 1944)
- 2001 - Mordecai Richler, Canadian author (b. 1931)
- 2003 - Gaetano Alibrandi, papal diplomat (b. 1914)
- 2004 - Andrian Nikolayev, cosmonaut (b. 1929)
- 2005 - Alberto Lattuada, Italian film director (b. 1914)
- 2005 - Gaylord Nelson, U.S. Senator from Wisconsin (b. 1916)

Holidays and observances

- Start of the Dog Days
- Feast day of Saint Thomas

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/3 BBC: On This Day] ---- July 2 - July 4 - June 3 - August 3 -- listing of all days ko:7월 3일 ms:3 Julai ja:7月3日 simple:July 3 th:3 กรกฎาคม

July 3

July 3 is the 184th day of the year (185th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 181 days remaining.

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

- Start of the Dog Days
- Feast day of Saint Thomas

External links

Leap year

A leap year (or intercalary year) is a year containing an extra day or month in order to keep the calendar year in sync with an astronomical or seasonal year. Seasons and astronomical events do not repeat at an exact number of days, so a calendar which had the same number of days in each year would over time drift with respect to the event it was supposed to track. By occasionally inserting (or intercalating) an additional day or month into the year, the drift can be corrected. Leap years (which keep the calendar in sync with the year) should not be confused with leap seconds (which keep clock time in sync with the day).

Gregorian calendar

The Gregorian calendar, the current standard calendar in most of the world, adds a 29th day to February in all years evenly divisible by 4, except for century years (those ending in -00), which receive the extra day only if they are evenly divisible by 400. Thus 1996 was a leap year whereas 1999 was not, and 1600, 2000 and 2400 are leap years but 1700, 1800, 1900 and 2100 are not. The reasoning behind this rule is as follows:
- The Gregorian calendar is designed to keep the vernal equinox on or close to March 21, so that the date of Easter (celebrated on the Sunday after the 14th day of the Moon that falls on or after 21 March) remains correct with respect to the vernal equinox.
- The vernal equinox year is currently about 365.242375 days long.
- The Gregorian leap year rule gives an average year length of 365.2425 days. This difference of a little over 0.0001 days means that in around 8,000 years, the calendar will be about one day behind where it should be. But in 8,000 years' time the length of the vernal equinox year will have changed by an amount we can't accurately predict (see below). So the Gregorian leap year rule does a good enough job. Image:Gregoriancalendarleap.png

Which day is the leap day?

The Gregorian calendar is a modification of the Julian calendar first used by the Romans. The Roman calendar originated as a lunar calendar (though from the 5th century BC it no longer followed the real moon) and named its days after three of the phases of the moon: the new moon (calends, hence "calendar"), the first quarter (nones) and the full moon (ides). Days were counted down (inclusively) to the next named day, so 24 February was ante diem sextum calendas martii ("the sixth day before the calends of March"). Since 45 BC, February in a leap year had two days called "the sixth day before the calends of March". The extra day was originally the second of these, but since the third century it was the first. Hence the term bissextile day for 24 February in a bissextile year. Where this custom is followed, anniversaries after the inserted day are moved in leap years. For example, the former feast day of Saint Matthias, 24 February in ordinary years, would be 25 February in leap years. This historical nicety is, however, in the process of being discarded: The European Union declared that, starting in 2000, 29 February rather than 24 February would be leap day, and the Roman Catholic Church also now uses 29 February as leap day. The only tangible difference is felt in countries that celebrate feast days.

Julian calendar

The Julian calendar adds an extra day to February in years divisible by 4. This rule gives an average year length of 365.25 days. The excess of about 0.0076 days with respect to the vernal equinox year means that the vernal equinox moves a day earlier in the calendar every 130 years or so.

Revised Julian Calendar

The Revised Julian calendar adds an extra day to February in years divisible by 4, except for years divisible by 100 that do not leave a remainder of 200 or 600 when divided by 900. This rule agrees with the rule for the Gregorian calendar until 2799. The first year that dates in the Revised Julian calendar will not agree with the those in the Gregorian calendar will be 2800, because it will be a leap year in the Gregorian calendar but not in the Revised Julian calendar. This rule gives an average year length of 365.242222… days. This is a very good approximation to the mean tropical year, but because the vernal equinox tropical year is slightly longer, the Revised Julian calendar does not do as good a job as the Gregorian calendar of keeping the vernal equinox on or close to 21 March.

Chinese calendar

The Chinese calendar is lunisolar, so a leap year has an extra month, often called an embolismic month after the Greek word for it. In the Chinese calendar the leap month is added according to a complicated rule, which ensures that month 11 is always the month that contains the northern winter solstice. The intercalary month takes the same number as the preceding month; for example, if it follows the second month then it is simply called "leap second month".

Hebrew calendar

The Hebrew calendar is also lunisolar with an embolistic month. In the Hebrew calendar the extra month is called Adar Alef (first Adar) and is added before Adar, which then becomes Adar Sheni (second Adar). According to the Metonic cycle, this is done seven times every nineteen years, specifically, in years, 3, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17, and 19. In addition, the Hebrew calendar has postponement rules that postpone the start of the year by one or two days. The year before the postponement gets one or two extra days, and the year whose start is postponed loses one or two days. These postponement rules reduce the number of different combinations of year length and starting day of the week from 28 to 14, and regulate the location of certain religious holidays in relation to the Sabbath.

Hindu Calendar

In the Hindu calendar, which is a lunisolar calendar, the embolismic month is called adhika maas (extra month). It is the month in which the sun is in the same sign of the stellar zodiac on two consecutive dark moons.

Iranian calendar

The Iranian calendar also has a single intercalated day once in every four years, but every 33 years or so the leap years will be five years apart instead of four years apart. The system used is more accurate and more complicated, and is based on the time of the March equinox as observed from Teheran. The 33-year period is not completely regular; every so often the 33-year cycle will be broken by a cycle of 29 or 37 years.

Long term leap year rules

The accumulated difference between the Gregorian calendar and the vernal equinoctial year amounts to 1 day in about 8,000 years. This suggests that the calendar needs to be improved by another refinement to the leap year rule: perhaps by avoiding leap years in years divisible by 8,000. (The most common such proposal is to avoid leap years in years divisible by 4,000 [http://www.google.com/search?q=%22gregorian+calendar%22+error+%22leap+year%22+4000]. This is based on the difference between the Gregorian calendar and the mean tropical year. Others claim, erroneously, that the Gregorian calendar itself already contains a refinement of this kind [http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mleapyr.html].) However, there is little point in planning a calendar so far ahead because over a timescale of tens of thousands of years the number of days in a year will change for a number of reasons, most notably: #Precession of the equinoxes moves the position of the vernal equinox with respect to perihelion and so changes the length of the vernal equinoctial year. #Tidal acceleration from the sun and moon slows the rotation of the earth, making the day longer. In particular, the second component of change depends on such things as post-glacial rebound and sea level rise due to climate change. We can't predict these changes accurately enough to be able to make a calendar that will be accurate to a day in tens of thousands of years.

Marriage proposal

There is a tradition, said to go back to Saint Patrick and Saint Bridget in 5th century Ireland, whereby women may only make marriage proposals in leap years.

Saint Patrick and the leap year

:Saint Patrick, having driven the frogs out of the bogs was walking along the shores of Lough Neagh, when he was accosted by Saint Bridget in tears, and was told that a mutiny had broken out in the nunnery over which she presided, the ladies claiming the right of popping the question. :Saint Patrick said he would concede them the right every seventh year, when Saint Bridget threw her arms round his neck, and exclaimed, "Arrah, Pathrick, jewel, I daurn't go back to the girls wid such a proposal. Make it one year in four." Saint Patrick replied, "Bridget, acushla, squeeze me that way again, an' I'll give ye leap-year, the longest of the lot." Saint Bridget, upon this, popped the question to St Patrick himself, who, of course, could not marry: so he patched up the difficulty as best he could with a kiss and a silk gown. (Source: Evans, Ivor H, Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, Cassell, London, 1988) According to a 1288 law in Scotland, fines were levied if the proposal was refused by the man; compensation ranged from a kiss to a silk gown to soften the blow. Because men felt that put them at too great a risk, the tradition was in some places tightened to restricting female proposals to 29 February.

Birthdays

A person who was born on 29 February may be called a "leapling". In non-leap years they usually celebrate their birthday on 28 February or 1 March. There are many instances in children's literature where a person's claim to be only a quarter of their actual age turns out be based on counting their leap-year birthdays. A similar device is used in the plot of the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta The Pirates of Penzance. Category:Calendars Category:Units of time als:Schaltjahr ko:윤년 ja:閏年 simple:Leap year th:ปีอธิกสุรทิน

324

Events

- July 3 - Battle of Adrianople: Constantine defeats Licinius, forcing Licinius to retreat to Byzantium.
- July - Battle of Hellespont: Crispus, defeats Licinius' naval fleet, allowing his father Constantine the ability to cross over the Bosporus into Licinius' Asian provinces.
- September 18 - Constantine definitely defeats Licinius at the Battle of Chrysopolis, and becomes the sole emperor of the Roman Empire. End of the Tetrarchy as the Roman mode of government.
- St Peter's Church, Rome, founded.
- Eustathius becomes bishop of Antioch Births Deaths
- December 20 - Philogonus, Patriarch of Antioch
- Licinius, former Roman Emperor, executed for treason Category:324 ko:324년

Constantine I (emperor)

Gaius Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus (Latin: IMP CAESAR FLAVIVS CONSTANTINVS PIVS FELIX INVICTVS AVGVSTVS ¹) (February 27, 272–May 22, 337), commonly known as Constantine I or Constantine the Great, was proclaimed Augustus by his troops on July 25,306 and ruled an ever-growing portion of the Roman Empire until his death. Constantine is famed for his refounding of Byzantium (modern Istanbul) as "Nova Roma" (New Rome) or Constantinople (Constantine's City). Constantine is best remembered in modern times for the Edict of Milan in 313 and the Council of Nicaea in 325, which fully legalized and then legitimized Christianity in the Empire for the first time. These actions are considered major factors in that religion's spread, and his reputation as the "first Christian Emperor" has been promulgated by historians from Lactantius and Eusebius of Caesarea to the present day.

Early life

Eusebius of Caesarea]] Constantine was born at Naissus,(today's Niš, Serbia, Serbia and Montenegro) in Upper Moesia, to Greek general Constantius I Chlorus, and his first wife Helena, an innkeeper's daughter who at the time was an adolescent of only sixteen years. His father left his mother around 292 to marry Flavia Maximiana Theodora, daughter or step-daughter of the Western Roman Emperor Maximian. Theodora would give birth to six half-siblings of Constantine, including Julius Constantius. Young Constantine served at the court of Diocletian in Nicomedia, after the appointment of his father as one of the two caesares(junior emperors) of the Tetrarchy in 293. In 305, the Augustus, Maximian, abdicated, and Constantius succeeded to the position. However, Constantius fell sick during an expedition against the Picts and Scots of Caledonia, and died on July 25, 306. Constantine managed to be at his deathbed in Eboracum (York) of Roman Britain, where the loyal general Chrocus, of Alamannic descent, and the troops loyal to his father's memory proclaimed him an Augustus ("Emperor"). For the next eighteen years, he fought a series of battles and wars of consolidation that first obtained him co-rule with the Eastern Roman Emperor, and then finally leadership of a reunified Roman Empire.

Constantine and Christianity

Constantine is perhaps best known for being the first Roman Emperor to freely allow Christianity. Christian historians ever since Lactantius have adhered to the view that Constantine "adopted" Christianity as a kind of replacement for the official Roman paganism. Despite the questions surrounding Constantine's Christianity, he is celebrated as a major Saint of Eastern Orthodoxy. Though he was not baptized until he was on his deathbed, his conversion, according to official Christian sources, was the immediate result of an omen before his victory in the Battle of Milvian Bridge, October 28, 312. Upon seeing this vision, Constantine is said to have instituted a new standard to be carried into battle called the labarum. Constantine and Licinius' Edict of Milan (313) removed penalties for professing Christianity, under which many were martyred in previous persecutions of Christians, and returned confiscated Church property. After the Edict, new avenues were opened to Christians, including the right to compete with pagan Romans in the traditional cursus honorum for high government positions, and greater acceptance into general civil society. New churches were allowed to be constructed and Christian leadership became increasingly bold — Christian bishops took aggressive public stances that were unheard of among other religions. As a result, Church controversies, which had been lively within the Christian communities since the mid-2nd century, now flared in public schisms, often with violence. Constantine saw quelling religious disorder as the divinely-appointed emperor's duty and eventually called the First Council of Nicaea (May 20 - July 25, 325) to settle some of the doctrinal problems plaguing the early church, notably Arianism.

Persian Reaction

Beyond the limites, east of the Euphrates, the Sassanid rulers of the Persian Empire had usually tolerated their Christians. With the edicts of toleration in the Roman Empire, Christians in Persia would now be regarded as allies of Persia's ancient enemy, and were thus persecuted. A letter supposedly from Constantine to Shapur II of Persia and alleged to have been written in c. 324 urged Shapur to protect the Christians in his realm. Shapur II wrote to his generals: :You will arrest Simon, chief of the Christians. You will keep him until he he turns to girl and signs this document and consents to collect for us a double tax and double tribute from the Christians … for we Gods have all the trials of war and they have nothing but repose and pleasure. They inhabit our territory and agree with Caesar, our enemy. (quoted in Freya Stark, Rome on the Euphrates 1967, p. 375)

Constantine's Life and Actions after The Edict of Milan

Coins struck for emperors often reveal details of their personal iconography. During the early part of Constantine's rule, representations first of Mars and then (from 310) of Apollo as Sun god consistently appear on the reverse of the coinage. Mars had been associated with the Tetrarchy, and Constantine's use of this symbolism served to emphasize the legitimacy of his rule. After his breach with his father's old colleague Maximian in 309–310, Constantine began to claim legitimate descent from the 3rd century emperor Marcus Aurelius Claudius Gothicus, the hero of the Battle of Naissus (September, 268). The Augustan History of the 4th century reports Constantine's paternal grandmother Claudia to be a daughter of Crispus, Crispus being a reported brother of both Claudius II and Quintillus. Historians however suspect this account to be a genealogical fabrication to flatter Constantine. fabrication fabrication with the chi-rho.]] Gothicus had claimed the divine protection of Apollo-Sol Invictus. In mid-310, two years before the victory at the Milvian Bridge, Constantine reportedly experienced the publicly announced vision in which Apollo-Sol Invictus appeared to him with omens of success. Thereafter the reverses of his coinage were dominated for several years by his "companion, the unconquered Sol" — the inscriptions read SOLI INVICTO COMITI. The depiction represents Apollo with a solar halo, Helios-like, and the globe in his hands. In the 320s Constantine has a halo of his own. There are also coins depicting Apollo driving the chariot of the Sun on a shield Constantine is holding and another in 312 shows the Christian chi-rho on a helmet Constantine is wearing. Constantine was also known for being ruthless with his political enemies, deposing the Eastern Roman Emperor Licinius, his brother-in-law, by strangulation in 325 even though he had publicly promised not to execute him upon Licinius' surrender in 324. In 326, Constantine executed first his eldest son Crispus and a few months later his own second wife Fausta. (Crispus was the only known son of Constantine by his first wife Minervina). There are rumours of step-mother and step-son having had an affair which caused Constantine's jealousy. The rumours were reported however by 5th century historian Zosimus and 12th century historian Joannes Zonaras. Their sources are not stated. Family influence is thought to account for a personal adoption of Christianity: Helena is said to be "probably born a Christian" though virtually nothing is known of her background, save that her mother was the daughter of an innkeeper and her father a successful soldier, a career that excluded overt Christians. Helena became known later in life for numerous pilgrimages. Constantine, following a widespread custom, was not baptized until close to his death in 337, when his choice fell upon the Arian bishop Eusebius of Nicomedia, who happened, despite his being an ally of Arius, to still be the bishop of the region. Also, Eusebius was a close friend of Constantine's sister; she probably secured his recall from exile. Arius The great staring eyes in the iconography of Constantine, though not specifically Christian, show how official images were moving away from early imperial conventions of realistic portrayal towards schematic representations: the Emperor as Emperor, not merely as this particular individual Constantine, with his characteristic broad jaw and cleft chin. The large staring eyes will loom larger as the 4th century progresses: compare the early 5th century silver coinage of Theodosius I.

Later Life

His victory in 312 over Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge resulted in his becoming Western Augustus, or ruler of the entire Western Roman Empire. He gradually consolidated his military superiority over his rivals in the crumbling Tetrarchy. In the year 320, Licinius, emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, reneged on the religious freedom promised by the Edict of Milan in 313 and began another persecution of the Christians. This was a puzzling inconsistency since Constantia, half-sister of Constantine and wife of Licinius, was an influential Christian. It became a challenge to Constantine in the west, climaxing in the great civil war of 324. The armies were so large another like these would not be seen again until at least the 14th century. Licinius, aided by Goth mercenaries, represented the past and the ancient faith of Paganism. Constantine and his Franks marched under the Christian standard of the labarum, and both sides saw the battle in religious terms. Supposedly outnumbered, but fired by their zeal, Constantine's army emerged victorious. He was the sole emperor of the entire Roman Empire. (MacMullen 1969) Roman Empire, c. 1000)]] This battle represented the passing of old Rome, and the beginnings of the Eastern Empire as a center of learning, prosperity, and cultural preservation. Constantine rebuilt the city of Byzantium which was said to have been founded by colonists from the Greek city of Megara under Byzas in 667 BC. He renamed the city Nova Roma (New Rome), providing it with a Senate and civic offices similar to the older Rome, and the new city was protected by the alleged True Cross, the Rod of Moses and other holy relics. The figures of old gods were replaced and often assimilated into Christian symbolism. On the site of a temple to Aphrodite was built the new Basilica of the Apostles. Generations later there was the story that a Divine vision lead Constantine to this spot, and an angel no one else could see, led him on a circuit of the new walls. After his death it was renamed Constantinopolis (or Constantinople, "Constantine's City"), and gradually became the capital of the empire. (MacMullen 1969) Constantine also passed laws making the occupations of butcher and baker hereditary, and more importantly, supported converting the coloni (tenant farmers) into serfs — laying the foundation for European society during the Middle Ages. In his later life he even turned to preaching, giving his own sermons in the palace before his court and invited crowds. His sermons preached harmony at first, but gradually turned more confrontational with the old pagan ways. The reason for this later "change of heart" remains conjectural. However, pagans still received appointments, even up to the end of his life. Exerting his absolute power, the army recited his composed Latin prayer in an attempt to convert them to Christianity, which failed. He began a large building program of churches in the Holy Land, which while greatly expanding the faith also allowed considerable increase in the power and wealth of the clergy.

Constantine's Legal Standards

Constantine's laws in many ways improved those of his predecessors, though they also reflect his more violent age. Some examples:
- For the first time, girls could not be abducted.
- A punishment of death was mandated to anyone collecting taxes over the authorized amount.
- A prisoner was no longer to be kept in total darkness, but must be given the outdoors and daylight.
- A condemned man was allowed to die in the arena, but he could not be branded on his "heavenly beautified" face, just on the feet.
- Parents caught allowing their daughters to be seduced were to have molten lead poured down their throats.
- Gladiatorial games were ordered to be eliminated in 325, although this had little real effect.
- A slave master's rights were limited, but a slave could still be beaten to death.
- Crucifixion was abolished for reasons of Christian piety, but was replaced with hanging, to show there was Roman law and justice.
- Easter could be publicly celebrated.
- Sunday was declared a day of rest, on which markets were banned and public offices were closed (except for the purpose of freeing slaves). There were however no restrictions on farming work. (MacMullen 1969, New Catholic Encyclopedia 1908)

Constantine's Courts and Appointees

Constantine respected cultivation and Christianity, and his court was composed of older, respected, and honored men. Leading Roman families that refused Christianity were denied positions of power, yet two-thirds of his top government was non-Christian. (MacMullen 1969,1984, New Catholic Encyclopedia 1908) "From Pagan temples Constantine had his statue removed. The repair of Pagan temples that had decayed was forbidden. These funds were given to the favored Christian clergy. Offensive forms of worship, either Christian or Pagan, were suppressed. At the dedication of Constantinople in 330 a ceremony half Pagan and half Christian was performed, in the market place, the Cross of Christ was placed over the head of the Sun-God's chariot. There was a singing of hymns." (New Catholic Encyclopedia 1908)

Constantine's Legacy

Although he earned his honorific of "The Great" from Christian historians long after he had died, he could have claimed the title on his military achievements alone. In addition to reuniting the empire under one emperor, Constantine won major victories over the Franks and Alamanni (306–308), the Franks again (313–314), the Visigoths in 332 and the Sarmatians in 334. In fact, by 336, Constantine had actually reoccupied most of the long-lost province of Dacia, which Aurelian had been forced to abandon in 271. At the time of his death, he was planning a great expedition to put an end to raids on the eastern provinces from the Persian Empire. He was succeeded by his three sons by Fausta, Constantine II, Constantius II and Constans, who secured their hold on the empire with the murder of a number of relatives and supporters of Constantine. The last member of his dynasty was his nephew and son-in-law, Julian, who attempted to restore paganism.

Legend and Donation of Constantine

In later years, historical facts were clouded by legend. It was considered inappropriate that Constantine was baptized only on his death-bed and by a bishop of questionable orthodoxy, and hence a legend emerged that Pope Silvester I (314-335) had cured the pagan Emperor from leprosy. According to this legend, Constantine was baptized after that and donated buildings to the Pope. In the 8th century, a document called the "Donation of Constantine" first appeared, in which the freshly converted Constantine hands the temporal rule over Rome, Italy and the Occident to the Pope. In the High Middle Ages, this document was used to and accepted as the basis for the the Pope's temporal powers, though it was denounced as a forgery by Emperor Otto III and lamented as the root of papal worldliness by the poet Dante Alighieri. In the 15th century renewed philological expertise proved the document a forgery.

Constantine in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia

Because of his fame and his being proclaimed Emperor in Britain, Constantine was later also considered a British King. In the 11th century, the English chronicler Geoffrey of Monmouth published a work called Historia Regum Britanniae, in which he narrates the supposed history of the Britons and their kings from the Trojan War to King Arthur and the Anglo-Saxon conquest. In this work, Geoffrey claimed that Constantine's mother Helena was actually the daughter of "King Cole", the mythical King of the Britons and eponymous founder of Colchester. A daughter for King Cole had not previously figured in the lore, at least not as it has survived in writing, and this pedigree is likely to reflect Geoffrey's desire to create a continuous line of regal descent. It was indecorous, Geoffrey considered, that a king might have less-than-noble ancestors. Monmouth also said that Constantine was proclaimed "King of the Britons" at York, rather than Roman Emperor.

Notes

1- In the English language, Constantine's official Imperial title is Imperator Caesar Flavius Constantine Augustus, the pious, the fortunate, the undefeated. After 312, he added maximus ("the greatest"), and after 325 replaced invictus ("undefeated") with victor, as invictus reminded of Sol Invictus, the Sun God.

External links

- [http://www.roman-emperors.org/conniei.htm RomanEmperors.org Vita of Constantine]; with bibliography
- Diocletian: Edicts against the Christians [http://www.tacentral.com/echmiadzin/Diocletian.htm]
- [http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Valley/8920/European/edictofmilan.htm The Edict of Milan AD 313]
- [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf202.ii.iv.vii.html Constantine's open letter] Letter to Alexander and Arius
- [http://odur.let.rug.nl/~drijvers/ammianus/ Ammianus Marcellinus on-line project]

References and Further reading

- Ancient History
- Chuvin, Pierre, 1990, B. A. Archer, translator, A Chronicle of the Last Pagans (Harvard) ISBN 0-674-12970-9
- Dodds, E. R., 1964 The Greeks and the Irrational (University of California)
- Dodds, E. R., 1965. Pagan and Christian in an Age of Anxiety: Some Aspects of the Religious Experience from Marcus Aurelius to Constantine (Cambridge)
- Jones, A.H.M., 1949. Constantine and the Conversion of Europe (Macmillan) The Association of Ancient Historians has honored Ramsay MacMullen as being the finest ancient historian of the Roman Empire in our time. Some may find him difficult, he speaks the language of the professional scholar, but reading his works is certainly worth the time and effort.
- MacMullen, Ramsay, 1969. Constantine, (Dial Press)
- MacMullen, Ramsay, 1984, Christianizing the Roman Empire A.D. 100-400, (Yale)
- MacMullen, Ramsay, 1990. Changes in the Roman Empire: Essays in the Ordinary (Princeton)
- MacMullen, Ramsay, 1966. Enemies of the Roman Order: Treason, Unrest, and Alienation (Harvard)
- Wilken, Robert L., 1984 Christians As the Romans Saw Them (Yale)
- Eusebius of Caesarea, The Life of the blessed Emperor Constantine in 4 books from AD 306 to 337.
- [http://www.1911encyclopedia.org Encyclopaedia Britannica 1911:] Constantine
- Lactantius , (AD 240-320) Of the Manner the in Which the Persecutors Died,
- [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04295c.htm "Constantine the Great"], by Charles G. Herbermann and Georg Grupp. The Catholic Encyclopedia (1908)
- [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05121a.htm "Donatists"], by John Chapman. The Catholic Encyclopedia (1909)
- Sources on the Antonine Plague
- Galen, On the Natural Faculties
- Marcus Cornelius Fronto, Letters of Marcus Cornelius Fronto
- Vlassis R. Rassias,"Es Edafos Ferein", 2nd edition, Athens, 2000, ISBN 960-7748-20-4 Category:272 births Category:337 deaths Category:Roman emperors Category:Late Antiquity Category:Romans in Britain Category:Ancient Roman Christianity Category:Constantine Dynasty Category:British traditional history ko:콘스탄틴 1세 ja:コンスタンティヌス1世

Licinius

:For other Romans of this name, see Licinius (gens). Flavius Galerius Valerius Licinianus Licinius (c. 250 - 325) was Roman emperor from 308 to 324. Of Dacian peasant origin, born in Moesia Superior, Licinius accompanied his close friend the Emperor Galerius on the Persian expedition in 297. After the death of Flavius Valerius Severus, Galerius elevated Licinius to the rank of Augustus on November 11 308. He received as his immediate command the provinces of Illyricum, Thrace and Pannonia. On the death of Galerius, in May 311, Licinius shared the entire empire with Maximinus Daia, the Hellespont and the Bosporus being the dividing line. In March 313 he married Flavia Julia Constantia, half-sister of Constantine, at Mediolanum (now Milan), the occasion for the jointly-issued "Edict of Milan" that restored confiscated properties to Christian congregations though it did not "Christianize" the Empire as is often assumed, although it did give Christians a better name in Rome. In the following month (April 30), Licinius inflicted a decisive defeat on Maximinus at Battle of Tzirallum, after Maximinus had tried attacking him. He then established himself master of the East, while his brother-in-law, Constantine, was supreme in the West. In 316 his jealousy led him to encourage a treasonable enterprise in favor of Bassianus against Constantine. When his actions became known, a civil war ensued, in which he was twice severely defeated— first at battle of Cibalae in Pannonia (October 8, 316), and next in the plain of Mardia in Thrace. The outward reconciliation, which was effected in the following December, left Licinius in possession of Thrace, Asia Minor, Syria and Egypt, but he later added numerous provinces to Constantine's control. In 324 Constantine, tempted by the "advanced age and unpopular vices" of his colleague, again declared war against him, and, having defeated his army at the battle of Adrianople (July 3, 324), succeeded in shutting him up within the walls of Byzantium. The defeat of the superior fleet of Licinius by Flavius Julius Crispus, Constantine’s eldest son, compelled his withdrawal to Bithynia, where a last stand was made; the battle of Chrysopolis, near Chalcedon (September 18), resulted in his final submission. He was interned at Thessalonica under a kind of house arrest, but when he attempted to raise troops among the barbarians Constantine had him assassinated.

References

External links

- [http://www.roman-emperors.org/licinius.htm De Imperatoribus Romanis website:] Licinius
- [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf202.ii.iv.iv.html Socrates Scholasticus account of Licinius' end] Category:250s births Category:325 deaths Category:Roman emperors Category:Executed Roman emperors Category:Constantine Dynasty

533

Events

- February 1 - John becomes Pope, succeeding Pope Boniface II, who had died in 532.
- Belisarius, a general in the service of Justinian I, lands in North Africa and attacks the Vandals.
- September 13 - Battle of Ad Decimium: Belisarius defeats the Vandals under Gelimer. Gelimer, forced to flee, leaves Carthage unprotected.
- December - Battle of Ticameron: Belisarius defeats a new Vandal force under Gelimer and Tzazo. Tzazo is killed in an all-cavalry fight, and Gelimer flees to the mountains of Numidia.
- December 16 - The Digesta or Pandectae, a collection of jurist writings and other sources, is completed (see Corpus Juris Civilis).
- Theodebert I becomes king of Austrasia.

Births

Deaths

- January 13 - Saint Remigius, bishop of Reims, baptiser of Clovis I
- Theuderic I of Austrasia (or 534) Category:533 ko:533년

Battle of Ad Decimum

The Battle of Ad Decimum took place on September 13, 533 between the armies of the Vandals, commanded by King Gelimer, and the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire), under the command of general Belisarius. This event and events in the following year are sometimes jointly called the Second Battle of Carthage. The victory marked the beginning of the end for the Vandals and began the "Reconquest" of the west under the Emperor Justinian I. Ad Decimum (Latin for Ten Mile Post), was simply a marker along the Mediterranean coast 10 miles south of Carthage. Gelimer, with 11,000 men under his command, had advance warning of the approach of Belisarius' 17,000-man army and chose to take a strong position along the road to Carthage near the post marker. He divided his forces, sending 2,000 men under his nephew Gibamund across a salt pan in an effort to flank Belisarius' army, which was advancing in narrow columns along the road. Another Vandal force, under Gelimer's brother Ammatas, was assigned to initiate a holding action at a defile near Ad Decimium. If everything worked well, Gelimer's 7,000-man main body would follow Gibamund around the Roman left flank and cut off their retreat. Gibamund failed to accomplish his mission, as a force of Romans and Hun mercenaries drove his 2,000-man force off and killed him. Ammatas also failed; he arrived at the defile with his men still strung out along the road back to Carthage, and he too was killed. The Romans pursued his men all the way to the gates of Carthage itself. On the other hand, Gelimer's main body was getting much the better of Belisarius' forces along the main road. Belisarius' mercenary cavalry was routed by the Vandals, and even though Gelimer was outnumbered, his men were doing much better in the fighting. It appeared as though the Vandals would win the battle. But when Gelimer reached Ammatas' position and discovered that his brother had been killed, he became disconsolate and failed to give an order for one more assault – which likely would have destroyed the reeling Roman army and cut off the Huns and Romans who had earlier advanced toward Carthage after beating Ammatas and Gibamund. Instead, his men let their guard down while Gelimer buried his brother on the battlefield. Given a respite, Belisarius was able to regroup his forces south of Ad Decimium and launch a counterattack, which drove the Vandals back and soon routed them. Gelimer was forced to abandon Carthage. Belisarius camped near the site of the battle, not wanting to be too close to the city at night. The next day he marched on the city, ordering his men not to kill or enslave (as was normal practice at the time) because the people were actually Roman citizens under Vandal rule. They found the gates to the city opened, and the army was generally welcomed. Belisarius went straight to the palace and sat on the throne of the Vandal King. He then set about rebuilding the fortifications of the city, and his fleet sought shelter in the lake of Tunis, five miles south of Carthage. After a second defeat at the Battle of Ticameron later in the year, the Vandal kingdom was all but ended. Category:533 Ad Decimum 533 Ad Decium 533

Vandals

The Vandals were an East Germanic tribe that entered the late Roman Empire during the 5th century and created a state in North Africa, centered on the city of Carthage. The Vandals may have given their name to the province of Andalusia (originally, Vandalusia, then Arabic Al-Andalus), in the south of Spain, where they temporarily settled before pushing on to Africa. The Goth Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths and regent of the Visigoths, was allied by marriage with the Vandals, as well as with the Burgundians and the Franks under Clovis I.

Origins

Clovis I. The map shows the extent of the Wielbark culture (Goths) in red, a Baltic culture (Aesti?) in yellow, and the Debczyn Culture, pink. The Roman Empire is purple.]] The Vandals were first identified with Przeworsk culture in the 19th century . Controversy surrounds potential connections between the Vandals and another possibly Germanic tribe, the Lugii (Lygier, Lugier or Lygians). Some academics believe that either Lugii was an earlier name of the Vandals, or the Vandals were part of the Lugian federation. Similarity of names have suggested homelands for the Vandals in Norway (Hallingdal) Sweden (Vendel) or Denmark (Vendsyssel). The Vandals are assumed to have crossed the Baltic into what is today Poland somewhere in the 2nd century BC, and to have settled in Silesia from around 120 BC. Tacitus recorded their presence between the Oder and Vistula rivers in Germania (AD 98); his identification was corroborated by later historians: according to Jordanes, they and the Rugians were displaced by the arrival of the Goths. This tradition supports the identification of the Vandals with the Przeworsk culture, since the Gothic Wielbark culture seems to have replaced a branch of that culture. In medieval times, there was a popular belief that Vandals were ancestors of Poles. That belief originated probably because of two facts: first, confusion of the Venedes with Vandals and secondly, because both Venedes and Vandals in ancient times lived in areas later settled by Poles. In 796, in the Annales Alamanici, one can find an excerpt saying, "Pipinus ... perrexit in regionem Wandalorum, et ipsi Wandali venerunt obvium" ("Pepin went to the region of the Vandals, which Vandals did come out to oppose him"). In Annales Sangallenses, the same raid (however, put in 795) is summarised in one short message, "Wandali conquisiti sunt" ("The Vandals were destroyed"). This means that early medieval writers gave the name of Vandals to Avars.

History

The Vandals were divided in two tribal groups, the Silingi and the Hasdingi. The Silingi lived in an area recorded for centuries as Magna Germania, now Silesia. In the 2nd century, the Hasdingi, led by the kings Raus and Rapt (or Rhaus and Raptus) moved south, and first attacked the Romans in the lower Danube area, then made peace and settled in western Dacia (Romania) and Roman Hungary. In 400 or 401, possibly because of attacks by the Huns, the Vandals along with their allies, (the Sarmatian Alans and Germanic Suebians), started to move westward under king Godigisel. Some of the Silingi joined them later. Around this time, the Hasdingi had already been Christianized. Much like the Goths earlier, the Vandals adopted Arianism, a belief that was in opposition to that of the main Trinitarian Christianity in the Roman Empire, which later grew into Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy.

Gaul

The Vandals travelled west along the Danube without much difficulty, but when they reached the Rhine, they met resistance from the Franks, who populated and controlled Romanized regions in northern Gaul. Twenty thousand Vandals, including Godigisel himself, died in the resulting battle, but then with the help of the Alans they managed to defeat the Franks, and on December 31, 406 the Vandals crossed the frozen Rhine to invade Gaul. Under Godigisel's son Gunderic, the Vandals plundered their way westward and southward through Aquitaine.

Iberia

In October 409 they crossed the Pyrenees into the Iberian peninsula. There they received land from the Romans, as foederati, in Gallaecia (Northwest) and Hispania Baetica (South), while the Alans got lands in Lusitania (West) and the region around Carthago Nova. Still, the Suebi, who also controlled part of Gallaecia, and the Visigoths, who invaded Iberia before receiving lands in Septimania (Southern France), and crushed the Alans, whose surviving remnant hailed Gunderic as their king.

Africa

Gunderic's half brother Geiseric proved to be the one great Vandal king. He started building a Vandal fleet. In 429, after becoming king, Geiseric crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and moved east toward Carthage. In 435 the Romans granted them some territory in Northern Africa, yet in

July 3

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324

Events

Constantine I (emperor)

Early life

Constantine and Christianity

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Constantine's Life and Actions after The Edict of Milan

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Constantine's Legal Standards

Constantine's Courts and Appointees

Constantine's Legacy

Legend and Donation of Constantine

Constantine in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia

Notes

See also

External links

References and Further reading

Licinius

References

External links

533

Events

Births

Deaths

Battle of Ad Decimum

Vandals

Origins

History

Gaul

Iberia

Africa